1. Computer Skills Module 4 Spreadsheets
First steps

2. Loading Microsoft® Excel®
Either double-click the Excel® icon (if it is on your desktop)
Or click Start, All Programs, then click Microsoft Office Excel (Note: depending on how your computer is set up, you might need to click Start, All Programs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Excel 2007.)

3. The opening screen Quick Access Toolbar Formula bar Title bar
Office button
The ribbon
Ribbon tabs
Name of active cell
Active cell
Row
Column
Worksheet tabs
Status bar

4. What the screen parts mean
Title bar
Shows the name of your document
Office button
Click this to see a menu of options, such as printing, saving and closing
Ribbon
The Ribbon is where you can find all the functions you will need to create and edit your document, grouped by related commands
Ribbon tab
A ribbon is displayed by selecting its Ribbon tab
Status bar
Shows details about your document, such as the page you are on, the language setting etc.
Quick Access Toolbar
A group of useful buttons, such as Save and Undo
Task pane
Sometimes a context-sensitive task pane is displayed at the side of the screen – this lets you choose further options related to the task in hand

5. Some spreadsheet terms
Worksheet
A worksheet contains 16,384 columns and 1,048,576 rows – you can see only a few of these on the screen
Cell
The worksheet is divided into cells in which you can type a number, a label or a formula
Active cells
When you click or type in a cell it is highlighted by a black border to show it is active
Rows and columns
The column and row headers are identified by letters and numbers, respectively – these are used to reference cells
Workbook
A workbook contains several worksheets – these are shown by the worksheet tabs

6. Moving around the worksheet
You can move around the worksheet to make a cell active by:
moving the cross-shaped cursor using the mouse and clicking the left mouse button in the cell you want
using one of the arrow keys on the keyboard to go up, down, left or right
using the Page Up or Page Down keys on the keyboard
pressing the Tab key on the keyboard
Tips
Press Tab to select the next cell to the right of the current active cell
Press Shift+Tab to select the next cells to the left of the current active cell
Press Ctrl+Home to makes cell A1 active

7. Using Zoom
Click the Zoom button in the Zoom group on the View ribbon to display the Zoom dialogue box
Set the magnification to display your document at

8. Minimising and restoring the ribbon
Right-click anywhere in the line containing the ribbon tabs, on the Office button, on the Quick Access Toolbar, or on a ribbon group name
Click Minimize the Ribbon on the shortcut menu that is displayed
To restore the ribbon, right-click in one of the same places as before to un-tick Minimize the Ribbon on the shortcut menu

9. Defaults and preferences
Click the Office button, and then click Excel Options on the window that appears
Click the option you require in the panel on the left-hand side of the Excel Options dialogue box

10. Getting help
Click the Help icon that is located near the top right of the Excel screen (or simply press the F1 function key on the keyboard) to open the Excel Help window
Type some appropriate words as a search criterion in the search text box
Click the Search button to display a list of items related to the search topic

11. Entering and deleting data
Click the cell where you want the data to appear
Type the data
Press Backspace or Delete to delete the contents of an active cell
Good practice
Ensure that only a single element of data is in a cell
Do not leave any blank rows or columns when you enter a data list
Lay out calculations in a similar way as you would on paper
Ensure that cells bordering a list are left blank so that it is clear what the list comprises

12. Inserting and deleting rows and columns
To delete
Right-click a row or column header
Click Delete on the shortcut menu which appears
To insert
Select Insert on the shortcut menu which appears

13. Saving your work
Click the Office button, and then click Save on the menu that appears
On the Save As dialogue box, type a name for your file in the File name: text box
In the Save in: list box, select a folder to save your file in
Click the Save button

14. Closing Excel To close a spreadsheet Click the Office button
Click Close on the menu that appears
To close Excel
Click Exit Excel on the window that appears

15. Computer Skills Module 4 Spreadsheets
Formulae

16. Formulae Formulae are the really useful part of spreadsheets
Excel uses them to perform calculations automatically
The result of a calculation is automatically recalculated and displayed if the data in any cell used in the formula is changed
Excel uses the arithmetical symbols opposite
= all formulae start with this
+ add
- subtract
* multiply
/ divide
( ) brackets

17. Selecting cells
Click the intersection of the row and column headers to select every cell in the worksheet
Click a row or column header to select a row or column, respectively
To select adjacent columns or rows, click the first header and hold down the button while you drag the mouse across adjacent headers
To select a block of cells, click in the first cell and hold down the button while you drag the mouse across adjacent cells. Alternatively, press the Shift key while you click the last cell in the block
To select non-adjacent cells, click the first and then hold down the Ctrl key while you click each of the other cells

18. Formatting cell contents
Select the cells you want to format
Click the formatting buttons in the Font group on the Home ribbon

19. Adding borders Select the cells you want to add a border around
Click the Border button in the Font group on the Home menu – (note that the icon on this button changes depending on the border selection last made, however the button is always located in the same place in the group)
Click the appropriate menu item to set borders around selected text

20. Entering formulae Formulae are entered using cell references
They always start with an equals sign (=)
Press Enter to confirm the formula
For example =A2+A3 will display the result of adding the contents of cells A2 and A3
Instead of typing in a formula you can use the mouse to point to the cells in the formula

21. Standard error values Error value Meaning #VALUE!
Excel cannot calculate the formula (e.g. the formula might be typed incorrectly or a cell might contain a non-numeric value)
#DIV/0!
The denominator in a division formula is zero
#NAME?
There is text in the formula
#NUM!
Invalid numeric data is used in the formula
#REF!
A cell referred to by the formula has been deleted
#####
The cell contents cannot be displayed because the column is too narrow

22. Formatting numbers Right-click the cell(s) you want to format
Select Format Cells… on the shortcut menu which appears to open the Format Cells dialogue box
Click the Number tab and select Number from the Category: list
Set the number of Decimal places and Use 1000 Separator (,) as required
Click OK to apply the changes

23. Computer Skills Module 4 Spreadsheets
Columns of data

24. Changing column widths
Either
Position the mouse pointer so that it is on the line between two columns.
The pointer will change to a double-headed arrow
Press the left mouse button and hold it down while you drag to the right or left Or
Position the mouse pointer between two columns. The pointer will change to a double-headed arrow
Double-click the left mouse button. The column automatically widens to fit the text of the longest length of text in the column

25. Formatting decimals
Click the Increase Decimal button in the Number group on the Home ribbon once to show another decimal place
Use the Decrease Decimal button to hide the number of decimal places that are shown

26. Summing a column of numbers
Click a cell below the column of numbers you want to sum
Click the AutoSum button in the Editing group on the Home ribbon
If Excel doesn’t select the correct cells to sum, first manually select them or type the function instead of using the ribbon button

27. Selecting and renaming worksheets
To select a worksheet
Click the worksheet tab
To rename a worksheet
Right-click the worksheet tab
Select Rename from the shortcut menu that appears – the text on the sheet tab is now selected
Type a new name
Click away from the worksheet tab when you have finished typing

28. Inserting and deleting sheets
To delete a worksheet
Right-click the sheet tab then select Delete from the shortcut menu that appears
To insert a worksheet
Click the Insert Worksheet tab

29. Moving and copying a worksheet
Moving within a workbook
Click the tab for the worksheet you want to move
Drag and drop it to the new position
Copying within a workbook
Click the tab for the worksheet you want to move
Press and hold the Ctrl key as you drag and drop it to the new position

30. Computer Skills Module 4 Spreadsheets
Functions

31. What is a function?
A function is a pre-defined formula used in a calculation
Excel 2007 provides over 300 functions to help with business, scientific and engineering applications
You need to know the following functions:
SUM
AVERAGE
MAX and MIN
COUNT and COUNTA
ROUND

32. The SUM function
Click a cell below the column of numbers you want to sum
Click the AutoSum button in the Editing group on the Home ribbon
If Excel doesn’t select the correct cells to sum, first manually select them or type the function =SUM() instead of using the ribbon button

33. The AVERAGE function
Using the AVERAGE function is similar to the SUM function
Click a cell below the column of data that you want the average of
Click the arrow on the right-hand side of the AutoSum button in the Editing group on the Home ribbon
Select Average from the list that is displayed – Excel tries to guess which cells you want to use
Press Enter
Correct Excel’s guess at the data you want if it has selected the incorrect data
As with any function, you can type the AVERAGE function =AVERAGE() directly in the cell

34. The MAX and MIN functions
Use the MAX and MIN functions to find the maximum and minimum value, respectively, in a selected range of cells
Click a cell below the column of data that you want the maximum or minimum of
Click the arrow on the right-hand side of the AutoSum button in the Editing group on the Home ribbon
Select Max or Min as required from the list that is displayed – Excel tries to guess which cells you want to use
Press Enter
Correct Excel’s guess at the data you want if it has selected the incorrect data
As with any function, you can type the MAX =MAX() and MIN =MIN() functions directly in the cell

35. The COUNT and COUNTA functions
Use the COUNT function to find the number of entries in a selected range of cells
Click a cell below the selected range of data
Click the arrow on the right-hand side of the AutoSum button in the Editing group on the Home ribbon
Select Count Numbers from the list that is displayed
Press Enter
COUNT ignores cells that do not contain numerical data If you want to include all cells (other than blank cells), then use the COUNTA function As with any function, you can type the COUNT =COUNT() and COUNTA =COUNTA() functions directly in the cell

36. The ROUND function The ROUND function rounds the value in a cell
For example, =round(C11,0) will round the contents of cell C11 to a whole number
You can include a cell reference, as here, or you can type a number directly in the function
You can change the number of digits the number is rounded to by changing the 0 to another number

37. Adding a new record
Right-click the row header where you want a new row to appear
Click Insert on the shortcut menu that appears

38. Copying data between sheets
Select the worksheet that contains the data you want to copy
Select the range of data you want to copy
Click Copy in the Clipboard group on the Home ribbon
Click the tab for the worksheet you want to copy to
Click a cell to make it the active cell
Click Paste in the Clipboard group on the Home ribbon

39. Filling a series Click the cell that you want to create a series from
Click and drag the small black square in the bottom right-hand corner of the cell – this is called the Fill handle
Release the mouse button when you have reached the end of the series – as you drag the handle a small box appears showing the contents of the cells as you auto-fill them

40. Freezing row and column titles
To freeze the row and column titles, place the cursor in the nearest cell to A1 that you do not want frozen
Click Freeze Panes in the Window group on the View ribbon
Select Freeze Panes from the menu that appears
To unfreeze columns and rows, click Freeze Panes in the Window group on the View ribbon
Select Unfreeze Panes

41. Switching between open workbooks
Either
Select Switch Windows in the Window group on the View ribbon
Select the workbook you want from the displayed list of open workbooks Or
Use the taskbar buttons at the bottom of the desktop

42. Saving as another file type
To save a file in a format other than the Excel default, click Save As on the Office button menu to display the Save As dialogue box
Click the down-arrow on the right of the Save as type: box, to see options to save a file as another type

43. Computer Skills Module 4 Spreadsheets
Printing

44. Printing an entire worksheet
Click Print on the Office button
Click Print to display the Print dialogue box
Here you can change various options such as the number of copies and which printer to use
Select All for the print range, and Active sheet(s)
Check and change the other options as necessary, and click OK to print

45. Printing a cell range Select the cells you want to print
Click Print on the Office button
Click Print to display the Print dialogue box
Select Selection in the Print what section
Check and change the other options as necessary, and click OK to print

46. Printing an entire workbook
Click Print on the Office button
Click Print to display the Print dialogue box
Select Entire workbook in the Print what section
Check and change the other options as necessary, and click OK to print

47. Printing a selected chart
Select the chart you want to print
Click Print on the Office button
Click Print to display the Print dialogue box
The Selected chart option in the Print what section is automatically selected
Check and change the other options as necessary, and click OK to print

48. Printing row and column headings
Select a worksheet
Click the Print Titles button in the Page Setup group on the Page Layout ribbon to display the Page Setup dialogue box
Click the Sheet tab
Select Row and column headings in the Print section
Click the Print… button to display the Print dialogue box
Click OK

49. Printing title rows and columns
Open the Page Setup dialogue box on the Sheet tab
Set the row(s) that you want to appear as the title row by
either typing in the Rows to repeat at top: box (e.g. type $1:$1 to specify row 1 as the repeated row)
or you can select the cells by clicking the icon on the right of the Rows to repeat at top: box
Click the Print… button to display the Print dialogue box
Click OK
Repeat column in exactly the same way as rows

50. Fitting worksheet contents onto a specific number of pages
Open the Page Setup dialogue box and click the Page tab
Click the Fit to: option in the Scaling section and set the page options
Click the Print… button to display the Print dialogue box
Click OK

51. Hiding/unhiding gridlines on printouts
Open the Page Setup dialogue box and click the Sheet tab
Click the Gridlines box in the Print section. (You can click it again to remove the tick and turn off gridline printing.)
Click the Print… button to display the Print dialogue box
Click OK

52. Paper orientation, size and margins
Click the Orientation button in the Page Setup group on the Page Layout ribbon
Select Portrait or Landscape from the menu that appears
Click the Size button in the Page Setup group on the Page Layout ribbon
Select the paper size you want from the menu that appears
You can also set the orientation and page size on the Page tab of the Page Setup dialogue box
Click the Margins button in the Page Setup group on the Page Layout ribbon
Select the margin arrangement you want from the list displayed on the menu that appears
You can set custom margins on the Margins tab of the Page Setup dialogue box

53. Preparation
Always thoroughly check your spreadsheet before printing it – be sure to
Print Preview
Spell check
Make a rough check that the calculations are as you intended
Check for formula errors

54. Computer Skills Module 4 Spreadsheets
Cell referencing

55. Relative cell referencing
This is the default setting in Excel
In this example Excel remembers the formula as =the cell 3 above and one to the left
This means that when you copy the formula to a different cell, the formula will no longer say =A1
For example, if you copy cell B4 to cell C4, the formula becomes =B1, because B1 is the cell 3 above and 1 to the left of cell C4

56. Absolute cell referencing
Absolute cell referencing is used when you always want to refer to the same cell
For absolute cell referencing, add a $ symbol in front of the column letter, row number or both

57. Formula error checking
If you want to check for formula errors, or if you see an error, click the Error Checking button in the Formula Auditing group on the Formulas ribbon
You can trace and correct errors in the Error Checking dialogue box that is displayed

58. Calculating a percentage
Enter a formula for working out the ratio of two variables
Adjust the cell formatting to show two decimal places
Click the Percent Style button in the Number group on the Home ribbon – this changes the answers into percentages

59. Formatting currency
Select the cells you want to format and right-click to bring up a shortcut menu
Select Format Cells…
Select the Number tab
Select Currency from the Category: list
Set the decimal places you want
Set the currency symbol you want
Click OK

60. Merge and centre cell contents
Select the cells you want to merge
Click the Merge & Center button in the Alignment group on the Home ribbon

61. Adding a date field
A quick way to enter today’s date is to press Ctrl+;
Alternatively you can type a date (separated with either hyphens or slashes) into a cell and then format it
Right-click in the date field, and select Format Cells... from the shortcut menu that appears
Excel has guessed that you want the Date category – pick a date Type from the right-hand list

62. Wrapping cell content
Sometimes the text in a cell can be quite long – it would look neater if the longer descriptions ran onto two lines, rather than making the column extra wide to fit them
Select the cell and click the Wrap Text button in the Alignment group on the Home ribbon

63. Find and replace Finding a word or value Replacing a word or value
Click Find & Select in the Editing group on the Home ribbon
Select the Find... option on the menu to display the Find and Replace dialogue box on the Find tab
Type the characters you are searching for in the Find what: box
Click the Find Next button
Excel makes the cell containing the characters you want the active cell
Click Find Next again to search for another occurrence of the characters
Click Close when you have finished
Replacing a word or value
Click Find & Select in the Editing group on the Home ribbon
Select the Replace... option on the menu to display the Find and Replace dialogue box on the Replace tab
Type the characters you want to change in the Find what: box
Type the new characters you want in the Replace with: box.
Click the Replace All button
Click Close

64. Adding headers and footers
Headers and footers are useful for automatically inserting information such as the current date and page numbers on large documents
Open the Page Setup dialogue box and select the Header/Footer tab
Click the Custom Header... or the Custom Footer… button
Type text or add a field in a Section: box
Click OK to close the dialogue box

65. Header and footer fields
Add fields to headers and footers to automatically include information such as page numbers, filenames and the date/time
Click in Section: box
Click the field button you want

66. Computer Skills Module 4 Spreadsheets
Charts

67. Sorting data
Before you create a chart, you might want to sort the data in a particular order
Select the data you want to sort
Click the Sort A to Z button or Sort Z to A button as appropriate in the Sort & Filter group on the Data ribbon
Deselect the cells by clicking anywhere on the worksheet

68. Drawing a bar chart Select the cells to be charted
Click the Column button in the Charts group on the Insert ribbon to display a gallery of column chart options
Click the option you want for your chart
The chart is placed on your worksheet

69. Adding a chart title Select the chart – the Chart Tools ribbon appears
Click the Chart Tools Layout ribbon tab
Click the Chart title button in the Labels group, and choose a location for the title from the menu that appears
A chart title place holder is displayed on the chart
Click in the Chart Title text box and type a title

70. Moving, sizing and deleting a chart
Click in the Chart Area and drag and drop the chart to a new position
Sizing
Drag the bottom right-hand corner handle of the chart to resize it
To resize a chart without distorting the shape of the chart, press the Shift key whilst dragging the handle
Deleting
Select the chart, then press the Delete key

71. Adding axis titles Select the chart so the Chart Tools ribbon appears
Click the Chart Tools Layout ribbon tab
Click the Axis Titles button in the Labels group
Select the axis type you require from the submenu to show an axis title place holder on the chart
Click the place holder to select it
Click the label text to place the text insertion cursor
Edit the text Axis Title

72. Changing the background colour
Right-click the Plot Area
Select Format Plot Area... from the shortcut menu to open the Format Plot Area window
Click Fill in the left-hand pane, and click the Solid fill option
Click the Color: button and choose a colour from the palette that is displayed
Click Close

73. Changing the column colours
Right-click a bar to show a shortcut menu, and choose Format Data Series… from the options
The Format Data Series window appears
Select a fill colour from the Fill options

74. Creating a pie chart
Click the Pie button in the Charts group on the Insert ribbon to display a gallery of pie chart options
Click the option you want for your chart
The chart is placed on your worksheet

75. Changing the chart type
Right-click the Chart Area to display a shortcut menu
Select Change Chart Type... to display the Change Chart Type window
Choose another chart type

76. Computer Skills Module 4 Spreadsheets
If…Then…Else

77. Changing font style and size
Select the cells you want to format
Change the font size by clicking the down arrow on the right-hand side of the Font Size list box in the Font group on the Home ribbon, and selecting the size from the list
Change the font by clicking the down arrow on the right-hand side of the Font list box in the Font group on the Home ribbon, and choosing the one you want from the list

78. IF statements
The result of a calculation can be conditional upon the contents of cells referred to by the calculation
Click the Insert Function button to the left of the Formula bar to display the Insert Function dialogue box
Select IF from the Select a function: list
Click OK to display the Function Arguments dialogue box
Complete the three IF fields as required
Click OK

79. Adding some colour Changing the font colour Select the cell(s)
Click the down-arrow on the Font Color button in the Font group on the Home ribbon, and select a colour
Changing the background fill colour
Select the cell(s)
Click the down-arrow on the Fill Color button in the Font group on the Home ribbon, and select a colour

80. Aligning cell content You can set where the text appears in a cell
Use the Align Right, Align Left and Center buttons, and the Top, Middle and Bottom buttons in the Alignment group on the Home ribbon to align the cell content horizontally and vertically, respectively
You can also use the Format Cells dialogue box, which allows you more alignment options (e.g. slanting)

81. Cell content orientation
Right-click the cell containing the text you want to format
Select Format Cells... from the shortcut menu
Select the Alignment tab on the Format Cell dialogue box
Change the orientation of the text by dragging the red dot on the Orientation dial so that the text becomes slanted
Click OK